WEEK IN REVIEW: Laurels and Darts | March 23, 2018

Last week, two groups of Rutgers students became titleholders of the Hult Prize Regionals Competition, which is a competition that encourages young innovators to create or invent a single thing that has the ability to change the lives of millions. The two teams that are moving on to the next round of the competition, SULIS and LivingWaters, are made up of eight students total. In the finals they will show the world how special Rutgers students are. We laurel these two teams for their excellent ideas and for representing Rutgers successfully for the impressive and competitive Hult Prize.

STOP SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

In the past week, The Daily Targum has reported on two sexual assault situations with Rutgers University professors as the perpetrators in both cases. One case involves Nabil Adam, vice chancellor for Research and Collaborations at Rutgers—Newark, allegedly sexually assaulting a graduate student that he worked closely with, and the other involves former Rutgers—Newark Professor Anna Stubblefield admitted to having illegal sexual contact with a man who suffers from cerebral palsy and is unable to speak. Both of these cases are unsettling, but necessary to discuss. If we wish for these sorts of acts to end, we must talk about them and reveal the perpetrators. We dart the continuing instances of sexual misconduct that not only happen too often in society, but right here at Rutgers.

PHILANTHROPIC FUN

Rutgers’ Class of 2017 became the most giving class in Rutgers history with their raising of more than $14,000, but the Class of 2018 seeks to surpass that number. Rutgers’ Class of 2018 will be able to donate to any area of Rutgers that has impacted them via the Scarlet Senior Campaign before May 14. The friendly competition — along with previous years — gives motivation to this year’s seniors to donate more money, but it is nevertheless a good thing. Philanthropy has the ability to greatly impact the student experience, so we laurel the Scarlet Senior Campaign for getting students to act selflessly.

STUDENTS NEED NEWS

As a result of a recent deal between Rutgers and The Wall Street Journal, University students, faculty and staff will now be able to fully access the publication’s online site. Once an account is activated, the user will be able to access the Wall Street Journal’s website, mobile application, “curated newsletters and WSJ+, an exclusive experience with access to special events, discounts and travel destinations,” according to the press release. Today, it is arguably more important than ever for students to be informed, yet many are still unable to read reliable news as a result of existing paywalls, such as that of T,he New York Times. We dart the fact that students do not have free access to more large-scale news sources.

AFFORDABLE ACCESS

According to University Libraries, Rutgers students spend $1,500 a year on average to access course materials, such as textbooks, access codes and other required class materials. The Open and Affordable Textbooks program (OAT) is run by University Libraries and has the aim of making class material much more affordable. This program awards faculty grants to help them develop more open-educational resources for their classes, which it is hoped will decrease the financial burden on students. We laurel this program and the people who put the work into coordinating it. It is people like this that make education more accessible for everyone, no matter their wealth or class.

EQUALITY FOR RU

On International Women’s Day, the Rutgers American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT) hosted a panel to discuss its latest report on disparities among race and gender. The report showed that though there have been some major improvements over the years, high-level faculty positions are still dominated by men. Additionally, the number of minority tenure-track professors at Rutgers is not only significantly lower than their population in New Jersey as a whole, but has actually been declining. We dart the fact that there is still so much more work to be done before we attain true equality.

The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 150th editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.